Russia wants Bill Browder on Interpol list

The Russian authorities have escalated their attack on Bill Browder, the
British hedge fund boss spearheading an anti-corruption campaign against the
Kremlin, by asking Interpol to place him under surveillance.

Bill Browder, head of Hermitage Capital Management, has been campaigning against corporate corruption in RussiaPhoto: PHILIP HOLLIS

Last month, Moscow issued an arrest warrant against the founder of Hermitage Capital management on charges that he stole shares in gas giant Gazprom 15 years ago.

Mr Browder said the action was a “politically-motivated” response to his campaign to expose a criminal network linked to the death in detention four years ago of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered an alleged $230m (£150m) fraud against the Russian state.

The request will be considered by Interpol’s commission this Thursday and Friday. A so-called “blue notice” would require all 190 member countries “to provide information about an individual’s location and activities” and could be used for arrest and extradition.

Mr Browder was a prominent Russian investor before being barred entry in 2006. The following year, Mr Magnitsky unearthed evidence of a huge alleged tax fraud by a criminal group that included officials in the police and tax authorities, and went public.

He was later jailed on disputed tax evasion charges and died in prison in November 2009 after being denied medical help. Mr Browder has since campaigned for justice and sparked a major diplomatic incident after succeeding in having 60 Russians – including senior state officials – barred from the US. Russia responded by banning US adoptions of Russian children and launching a controversial posthumous trial of Mr Magnitsky.